Psychosocial Notebook - IOM Publications - International ...
Psychosocial Notebook - IOM Publications - International ...
Psychosocial Notebook - IOM Publications - International ...
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<strong>Psychosocial</strong> <strong>Notebook</strong>, Volume 2, October 2001<br />
tunities at different levels of risk and social exposure, from smuggling to<br />
prostitution, and includes drug dealing and thug recruitment for the bloody<br />
settling of disputes. In Brindisi, the level of homicide is the highest in the<br />
entire region, while the number of bank robberies is the lowest [see report<br />
“Brindisi città di frontera”].<br />
The local Catholic Church is open to inter-religious exchange and promotes<br />
multiculturalism. It might be considered one of the agents of social<br />
solidarity, with a focus on immigrants and refugees, even though it operates<br />
in a culturally secular context. According to a local survey, only 44 per<br />
cent of the citizens of Brindisi believe in the Catholic after-life, while an<br />
unexpectedly high 5.5 per cent believe in reincarnation. Citizens of both<br />
sexes seem to subscribe to a pragmatic concept of life and choices, which<br />
includes a different and positive view of values like hospitality, solidarity,<br />
and volunteer work. In a recent survey conducted in Brindisi, 54 per cent<br />
of the respondents gave great importance to solidarity, almost half indicated<br />
inner strength as a value that was important to them, while faith was<br />
chosen by only 20 per cent, and success/money, by only 2 per cent. These<br />
seem to be the values held dear by a people who were candidates for the<br />
Nobel Peace Prize, because of the generous welcome they extended to the<br />
refugees.<br />
While during the war, in 1999, Kosovar Albanians were the most prevalent<br />
group in Brindisi, finding those who had not yet returned to Kosovo in the<br />
summer of the year 2000 proved to be a very difficult task. I was assisted<br />
in my search by a women’s helpcentre located in Brindisi, which referred<br />
me to Emanuele Polito, the person who manages the Citim (a shelter for<br />
refugees in Mesagne, where no Kosovars remained at the time) and to Don<br />
Peppino, the head of the San Vito Church.<br />
As I later found out, the Kosovars who had remained in the Brindisi area<br />
were “special cases” – people who had a specific reason to delay their<br />
journey home. One family, which had originally agreed to be interviewed<br />
but later declined, included a pregnant woman about to give birth. Another<br />
of the families I interviewed was in the process of packing. They were<br />
planning to fly to Kosovo the following week, despite the poor health of<br />
the mother, who was suffering from thrombosis. The members of the other<br />
family I was able to interview had only just become refugees officially.<br />
Most of them needed long term medical attention because of severe<br />
injuries suffered during the war.<br />
I therefore interviewed the members of two families. The first family was<br />
made up of a wife, her husband, and their four children. I held separate<br />
interviews with the mother, the father and with their teenage daughter, who<br />
speaks fluent Italian. In the second family, I interviewed a couple with two<br />
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